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Suffice to say, this book features the planets of our Solar System (and little Pluto), but if you look hard enough you might just find the following.

1. Sputnik 1 - The first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on 4 October 1957, orbiting for three weeks before its batteries died.

2. Voyager 1 - A space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977 as art of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System

3. Laika - Laika was a Soviet space dog who became one of the first animals in space, and the first animal to orbit the Earth.

4. Lunar Rover - A lunar rover or Moon rover is a space exploration vehicle designed to move across the surface of the Moon.

5. Curiosity - Curiosity is a car-sized rover designed to explore Gale Crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission.

6. Face on Mars - The "Face on Mars" was photographed by the Viking 1 spacecraft as it made its way to the Red Planet. The image shows what seems to be a giant humanoid face, carved out of or even built onto the surface of Mars.

7. Crop Circle - Crop Circles are geometric patterns that appear mysteriously in crop fields. The term was first coined in the early 1980s by Colin Andrews. Although obscure natural causes or alien origins of crop circles are suggested by theorists, there is no scientific evidence for such explanations.

8. International Space Station - The International Space Station is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit.

9. The American Flag - NASA's Apollo 11 blasted to the moon on July 16, 1969. Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins were the astronauts on Apollo 11. Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the moon. They both planted the U.S. flag there.

10. Mice on the Moon - The myth that the moon is made of cheese has been around for millennia. The best-known early citation dates to 1546, and can be found in The Proverbs of John Heywood (which can be read in its entirety here). The document is a compendium of some of the titular author’s most famous sayings, such as “the more, the merrier,” “a penny for your thoughts,” and “Rome was not built in a day.” At one point, he jokingly states “the moon is made of greene cheese” (in this context, “greene” refers to the food’s age rather than its color).

11. A subtle reference to a popular American science fiction television series and movie franchise.

12. Mr Panda - Mr Panda is from my ongoing 'Mr Panda' series. He also appears in The Queen's Handbag and The Queen's Present.

13. Another nod to a popular American science fiction television series from the 1960s (this time, in the text).

14. The Queen's Hat - The Queen's Hat appears four times in this book.

15. The Sneaky Swan - This thieving swan stars in The Queen's Handbag, but he also make a brief appearance in The Queen's Present, too.

16. Royal Guard and Police Officers - These characters are from The Queen's Hat and The Queen's Handbag, respectively.

17. Blip - Blip stars in her very own book called Unplugged, but she does manage to make a cameo in The Queen's Lift-off.

Steve Antony

About steve antony

After taking redundancy from a call-centre, Steve pursued his dream job as an author and illustrator. Five years later, he has sold over one million picture books, won awards, and toured the world. Steve lives in Swindon UK, is Patron of Swindon Libraries Children's Services and designed their new children's library card. Steve plays an active role with the National Literacy Trust and Beanstalk. His Mr Panda series has been optioned for TV. He also illustrated Tim Minchin's When I Grow Up and a cover of The Famous Five.